Women's Engineering Society: President

Hi everyone! I’m Zehra, a 3rd year Mechanical Engineering student, and I’m running to be next year’s UCLWES President. :)

Women can often feel out of place in a male dominated industry such as engineering. A space is needed where this is not the case, and UCLWES can provide that. I want to continue to help grow and enrich this space, and I would love the opportunity to do that as President of UCLWES.

Having led another UCL society as President, I feel that I have the skill set to successfully lead the committee and UCLWES in achieving its goals for the coming year. As an Events Manager at UCLWES this year, I’ve been really involved in the society’s activities and inner-workings. Events are at the core of any university society, so having planned and executed a variety of events, I understand what goes in to making UCLWES successful. I’ve seen and experienced first-hand how our events have benefited people. Through the society I’ve met potential future employers, made some good friends, and gotten lots of good advice from guests at events. I’d love to see more people benefit from the society like I have.

I am a 1st year Civil Engineering student and I joined UCL Women’s Engineering Society (UCLWES) in October 2021 as Assistant Vice President. I have been able to work closely with the current president and learn from her experiences which I hope to combine with my skills and apply to the President position for next year.

I have helped organise a mixture of events this year for UCLWES including a student internship advice panel, a movie night and the annual UCLWES ‘Get Women into STEM’ panel. These events were very well received and I learnt a lot about their organisation, preparing me for the President role.

I believe I can bring a lot of new ideas to UCLWES as President and below are some of the ambitions that I have for the society:

• Organising both social and career events to create a friendly environment and help members gain valuable advice from industry professionals
• Involving society members in the planning of events
• Creating a supportive platform for UCL Engineering students to share advice
• Organising joint events with other UCL societies (including UCL Engineering Society) as well as WES from other universities
• Encouraging male students to also take part in UCLWES activities as allies of the society

I hope to make these ambitions a reality as the next President of UCLWES. I'm eager to work closely with next year’s committee and with the direct involvement of society members create enjoyable, educational and valuable events for all.